What we mean by stems
Stems are separate audio exports per element or group — drums bus, bass, chords, lead vocal, backing vocals — that together reconstruct the production. Some producers send dozens of tracks; others send five wide groups. Both work if start times match and nothing is doubled hot.
For Mixing we quote €210 per song, €985 for an EP up to six tracks, or €122 per hour when you attend in studio. Tell us via contact how many songs and what genre you target; we plan feedback within 2 standard revision rounds.
Technical export rules
Export WAV or AIFF, 24-bit preferred, one sample rate for the whole project (44.1 or 48 kHz). Avoid bouncing between rates; resampling adds filtering that shows up on streaming later.
Start every stem at sample 0 — bar one, beat one — even if the arrangement enters later. Mix engineers align on the timeline, not by ear alone. Leave reverb tails on drum and effect prints; cutting a tail mid-decay sounds unnaturally dry. Keep peaks well below 0 dBFS; a few decibels of headroom prevents clipping in summing.
Naming and folder layout
Use ASCII names without spaces: Artist_Title_DrumsBus.wav. Add tempo and key in the folder name if you juggle many projects. Zip per song in one parent folder, not orphan files.
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
01_SongTitle/stems | All audio exports |
01_SongTitle/refs | Optional reference mix (mp3 OK here) |
01_SongTitle/notes.txt | Tempo, key, vocal level notes, quirks |
Label stems consistently in one language. State explicitly which vocal is the lead when several exist.
Print effects or not
If you are committed to a sound, printing is fine — a fixed delay on a hook, for example. When unsure, deliver dry plus a separate effect return if possible. Vocal chains you already tuned at home give us a starting point; heavy limiting on every stem makes later moves harder.
Autotune or pitch correction: send dry and processed if you want both compared. Aggressive rap vocals may stay processed; ballads often benefit from a dry lead so we keep air in the mix.
Material from our live room
Recorded drums or band in our live room? Ask the engineer for multitrack exports after the session, or book mix time immediately. The room is 32 m² with space for up to 6 musicians; bleed between instruments is part of the character and affects how tightly stems can be separated.
Mark which takes are final; with multiple drum passes we need to know your comp target. Raw session archives follow terms for 18 months — after that, delivery from backup is on you.
Sending large packages
For Dutch uplinks, a reliable cloud link or courier drive beats email attachments. After upload, download and unpack once locally to verify the zip. Send passwords separately via [email protected] if you encrypt.
Business clients may use 21-day payment terms where applicable; new bookings can require a 35% deposit per terms. Include VAT ID and PO reference when invoicing a company.
Common mistakes
- Mono vocal exported as duplicated stereo — check channel width.
- Click track bounced onto a stem by accident.
- Mismatched lengths because one stem was trimmed early.
- MP3 stems with aliasing on hats and sibilance.
- No reference, so genre expectations stay vague.
Only a rough mix and loose vocals? Discuss upfront — sometimes vocal recording plus mix in one plan beats repairing a bad export.
After delivery
We confirm receipt and ask before starting if anything is missing. Mix notes stay within agreed revision rounds; arrangement rewrites sit outside standard revision. Want platform-ready level afterward? Book mastering separately — see loudness for streaming for level expectations.
Questions on formats or pricing for your tracklist? Contact us or call 020 623 8147 during Mon–Fri 9:30–18:30, Sat 12–17. General answers live in FAQ; upload privacy is covered in privacy policy.
